Through The Whomping Willow
by Frozen in Motion
Summary: A short story about the night that Sirius played a deadly prank on Snape--and James ended up saving his life.


Through the Whomping Willow  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of it. The characters and the plot and everything Harry Potter related belongs to the genius by the name of J.K. Rowling. So don't sue me! A/N: This is just a short story I wrote about what might have happened when James saves Snape's life.  
  
*~*~*  
  
"I'm so bored, Prongs," whined Sirius Black one spring afternoon. He pushed his hair out of his eyes and looked up at his best friend, James Potter.  
  
"Fear not, Padfoot my friend, tonight is the full moon!" James replied as they sat up in Gryffindor tower, attempting the towering stacks of homework they had. He glanced over at their best friend Remus Lupin, who was looking extremely pale and sickly.  
  
"It might be fun for you, but why don't you try turning into a werewolf once a month," retorted Remus, rolling his eyes, which were turning slightly yellowish.  
  
"Don't you want to finish this?" James asked, pulling out a folded piece of parchment.  
  
"Yeah, we've only got seventh year after this," agreed Peter Pettigrew, another of their best friends. Together the four boys called themselves the Marauders.  
  
"I wasn't saying that I." Remus began, but decided it was pointless and turned back to his Potions essay, sighing.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Later that night when the sky was becoming darker, Remus rose and left the common room, to go down to the hospital wing so that Madame Pomfrey could escort him to the Whomping Willow.  
  
"See you later, Moony!" Sirius called after him.  
  
"Oy! We're not the only ones in here!" James hissed, elbowing Sirius in the ribs.  
  
They waited until the common room cleared out, and in roughly an hour they were alone in the common room.  
  
"So, can we go?" Peter asked, watching the portrait hole swing shut behind Remus.  
  
"We should go now!" Sirius said, fidgeting in his chair.  
  
"Okay, wait, here Prongs," James said, pulling out the folded bit of parchment: the Marauders Map. Sirius snatched it from him, rapidly unfolded it, placed the tip of his wand on it and said:  
  
"I solemnly swear I am up to no good," and from his wand point spidery lines crawled all over the paper, making an almost complete map of Hogwarts.  
  
"Hold on," James said, and he rushed up to their dormitory and snatched his invisibility cloak from his trunk.  
  
He brought it back downstairs, and the three boys disappeared under it. They crawled through the portrait hole, ignoring the fat lady asking who was there. Sirius held the Marauders Map close to his nose in order to see it in the darkened corridors. It was after hours, so they had to be careful about noise and bumping into anybody.  
  
"Well Pomfrey is back in the Hospital wing, obviously," Sirius informed the other two, then something caught his eye. "Hey, Prongs. Do you want to have a little fun?" Sirius asked evilly.  
  
"What are you-?" James began.  
  
"Snivellus!"  
  
"Ooh!" squealed Peter.  
  
"SHH!" James quieted them both. "What do you have in mind Padfoot?"  
  
"Just listen."  
  
*~*~*  
  
Sirius strode onto the dark grounds toward a tall beach tree by the lake. Under it sat a dark shape that wasn't moving.  
  
"Nice night isn't it, Snivellus?" Sirius said to the shape that was Severus Snape, as he reached the beach tree.  
  
"What are you doing out here, Black?" Snape glared at him, though it was too dark to see much.  
  
"A better question: What are you doing out here? It's after hours, and its all dark, aren't you scared?" Sirius countered coldly, mocking Snape in a scathing voice.  
  
"What I do is none of your business, Black," hissed Snape.  
  
"But I could make it my business," Sirius began.  
  
"Do not threaten me, Black," Warned Snape, standing up. He was half a head shorter than Sirius, therefore the gesture was anything but threatening.  
  
"You want to know where my good buddy Remus Lupin goes every month?" Sirius asked teasingly.  
  
"I don't care about-," Snape started indignantly.  
  
"Oh yes you do. All you have to do is go up to the Whomping willow-no, wait for it-and prod the knot at the base of the trunk with a long stick. Go through the passage in the roots when the branches stop moving. That's it," Sirius ended casually, as though they were conversing over afternoon tea.  
  
"And why should I trust you, Black?" Snape asked carelessly.  
  
"Oh give it a rest, you want to know, I know you do, and what else have you got?" Sirius attempted his casualness again, but was getting exasperated. Snape had no idea how close he was to ruining all his fun.  
  
Sirius turned and strode back to the castle, without another word. Snape stood there for a moment, before striding very slowly towards the Whomping Willow, Picking up a stick along the way.  
  
Meanwhile, under the invisibility cloak at the steps of the castle:  
  
"Yes he's going he's going!" exclaimed Peter.  
  
"Brilliant, eh Prongs?" Sirius asked excitedly, extremely proud of himself for this prank.  
  
"Yeah, Padfoot, brilliant," James replied distractedly. Suddenly he threw off the cloak as Snape disappeared into the Whomping Willow.  
  
"Oy! Prongs! What are you doing?" Sirius yelled after him as he began to sprint, but James didn't turn around.  
  
He had been extremely stupid, letting Sirius play this prank. He hadn't realized how dangerous it was! Remus could bite Snape! Even if he didn't, Snape could tell everybody and Remus would never trust them again!  
James snatched up the stick Snape had used, and hastily prodded the knot on the tree, and once more, the branches froze. James hurried down as fast as the cramped tunnel would allow. How far had Snape gone? How was Remus? What if he didn't make it?  
After a few excruciating seconds James could see a bit of light and a dark shape moving along ahead of him.  
  
"WAIT!" yelled James desperately.  
  
Either Snape didn't hear him or chose not to hear him, because he did not turn around. James put on a last burst of speed and reached Snape just at the entrance to the Shrieking Shack. He threw out his hand to grab Snape's arm and yank him around when they both saw a full grown werewolf. They both stood frozen. The thought of changing into a stag crossed James' mind, but he didn't want Snape to find out about that too. Remus the werewolf threw back his shaggy head and let out an earsplitting howl. This threw James back into his senses.  
  
"RUN!" James shouted, and he grabbed Snape's arm and they both sprinted as fast as they could back down the earthy tunnel.  
  
As reached the end of the tunnel, James hastily pressed the knot again so they wouldn't be whomped to death by the willow. They emerged quickly, panting and shaking.  
  
"So your friend is a werewolf!" Snape said maliciously, though he could not hide the shake in his voice.  
  
"You can't tell, I-!" James began, ready to fall to his knees before his worst enemy and grovel and beg.  
  
"I can tell whoever I want," Snape cut James off.  
  
"I'm afraid that won't be necessary," a deep voice behind them said. James and Snape wheeled around to be face to face with Albus Dumbledore.  
  
"How did you.?" James gaped at him.  
  
"It seems Mr. Black realized the error in his ways a second after you did," Dumbledore informed him.  
  
"Sir I-," James began, but stopped abruptly.  
  
"We can talk about this in my office. Come. Mr. Black and Mr. Pettigrew are already wating there," Dumbledore said, and he led the boys up to the castle. 


End file.
